Family Weekend is one of the greatest events colleges and universities offer. It’s just the right amount of time after move-in days; just enough time to where you’ve really started to realize they’re gone but not long enough to where it becomes unbearable to live another second without a big bear hug from your parents.
Recently Samford University had Family Weekend, followed by Fall Break. And, as much as I love my family, it was a little crazy seeing them two weekends in a row. After all, I’d been living on my own (with a great roommate and some incredible suite mates) for over a month by this time. So by the end of Family Weekend, I had a full tank of family love to last me another few weeks.
It was a little hard getting used to seeing them so often after being apart from them for a while. And there were times during fall break that all I wanted to do was go to my room and just be alone. (I feel bad saying all of this. But I promise that I really love my family.) I wasn’t trying to be rude or unloving, it was just a little like a culture shock.
But as I sat in my room, reading a book for my history class (not the most entertaining thing to be doing on a break) I thought, “Am I seriously sitting in my room, reading a history book instead of spending time with my family, who I’m not going to see again until Thanksgiving?” And this decision didn’t just affect me; I was actually taking time away from my family, instead of just trying to gain time for myself.
Thankfully I realized this early on and didn’t completely spend my fall break trying to be alone in a house full of people I love and care about. But it’s easy to do. Too often we feel “fed-up” with our crazy family and just spend our time trying to get away.
That’s not how God intended families to be. He’s given us the greatest example of family. He loved His children (us) so incredibly much that He was willing to send Jesus to save us, just so we could have the option to choose God’s family and spend eternity with Him in heaven. And I know that no one will want some alone time there.
So don’t spend your time on earth trying to get that alone time away from your family. Celebrate your time with them and your love for each other every chance you get.
